


Cry Wolf

by OhSev



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Gen, Other, Some canon characters will be shown, Story without dialogue, There may be some dialogue later in the chapters but I'm not sure, probably rushed I'm sorry, rewritten
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:34:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23653927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhSev/pseuds/OhSev
Summary: The story takes place after the Yorkshin Arc, but instead of following the Main 4, it's the story of a certain mafia attendant...Well, actually her child.TLDR: Eliza found out she was pregnant with Squala's child and said kid will make one hell of an adventure in the future.





	1. Prologue

It was a cold, gloomy day. 

Rain was falling down on the people that were circling around a mahogany coffin. A woman with wavy violet hair stood out as she needed to say goodbye to her lover, knowing that he was gone already. She gently threw a white chrysanthemum flower on the casket, watching it going down into the grave through tear-stained eyes.

“Goodbye my love” Eliza whispered. She felt like nothing mattered because all her dreams and happiness she wanted to experience with Squala died along with him. 

Or at least that’s what she thought.

Eliza found out she was already pregnant 3 months after the funeral while still being in her mourning phase. It was surprising to say at least and it couldn’t be anyone else since her last was Squala. They had their last intimate activity on September 3rd, a day before he got killed. 

Eliza wasn’t sure if she could do this on her own. She wanted nothing more than to start a family, but not in this place. She would never allow her child to be a part of this dangerous establishment. In a matter of time, the violet haired woman got herself a nice house, far away from the Nostrade family so that she could spend her remaining months of her pregnancy in peace.

Those 6 months came way faster than Eliza wanted.

Laying on the bed, the pain was clear on her face. She screamed every few minutes, hoping the baby would come out easily. Though, that wasn’t the case. Eliza tried breathing excuses like the midwife suggested, yet, still, the contractions continued to wear her down.

She pushed and pushed long and hard. An hour past before they made progress. The head finally showed. To the violet haired woman, the pain resembled a watermelon being pushed through a hole the size of a lemon.

Thank the lord she wasn’t having twins, otherwise this would be her death.

Eliza gave one more push. A few moments later, there was the sound of a baby crying. A nurse handed the crying baby over to the mother and she held the child close to her chest. Bluish violet waves and curls adored the infant’s head and a black dot similar as Squala’s was perfectly placed on the forehead. The baby looked up at the mother with huge green eyes.

She named the baby Silloh, and promised to do anything to keep her child save from the cruel world. She would make Squala proud and raise the small child into a wonderful person. 

* * *

The rays of the morning sun shone through Eliza’s window, making the woman turn off her desk lamp as soon as she was done writing in her journal. It was not surprising that someone such as herself is awake before the sun was up rather than being asleep till the sound of her alarm clock went off.

Old habits die hard as people say, especially since she quit working as a full-time maid ever since she had her child 7 years ago.

Leaving was actually way easier than she originally thought. The Nostrade business got flushed down the toilet ever since Neon couldn’t use her fortune telling ability anymore. Everyone got so distracted that they never noticed her being gone. 

Eliza walked to the kitchen to make some tea, she felt a presence outside of the house. She walked to the front door and peeked through the mini curtain, but she saw nothing. It was probably her imagination she thought as she walked back to the kitchen to grab her tea filled mug and walked to her daughter’s bedroom, watching her sleep before going back to her own bedroom. 

Raising Silloh on her own was obviously not a easy task, but it was all worth it. Eliza luckily had help from a librarian she’s friends with ever since she moved to Ōston,YS. The violet haired woman made sure her child wasn’t lacking anything. She answered all her daughter’s questions honestly, without having it to hurt. 

Aside from one important detail. 

Silloh had no idea about her father’s death. Eliza told her that Squala died of natural causes. The woman wanted to tell her the truth when she was older to understand it better, but she never had an opportunity to do so. 

At least, that was what she told herself for years before it came back to bite her. 

Eliza had no chance to hide the moment an old newspaper from at least 10+ years ago was thrown roughly on the living room table, by her now 14 year old daughter. Silloh’s eyes held so much anger that Eliza visibly flinched.

On the other end of the line could she hear the “I’m sorry” from her friend but that was ignored at the moment. Eliza slowly looked at the newspaper and saw the decapitated body of Squala on the headline. She almost puked at the sight, but there was no time for that. She had to tell her daughter the truth about everything. About her and Squala working for the mafia, that she took care of the mafia boss’s daughter, that Silloh’s father was a Nen user. 

Just _everything_.

And just like how Eliza expected, her daughter snapped. 

One of the things Silloh probably hated more than anything was being lied to and that was exactly what her mother did. Eliza lied about everything, to herself, to her child and to her lover as well. How could she do this to her? Her mother tried to give the excuse of not wanting her to know about the concept of death at a young age, as if she never saw random animals die as a 7 year old **.**

Despite her mother telling that her father passed away at young age, Silloh in her child-like mind still thought that Squala left them- _her specifically_ \- behind and that he was happy somewhere else. The girl thought that she could trust the only blood relative she had in her life and it got her nowhere. 

Eliza pulled Silloh in a hug as tears ran down the child’s face, sinking down on the ground. The woman never wanted to let her child know this way. She knew that she should’ve told it sooner, she knew that she shouldn’t have lied about it all, but the mother wanted to leave out the horrifying memories of that day.

She just didn’t want her child to suffer like she did.

Even though Eliza kept the truth about her lover’s death and their occupation hidden from their child, all the good memories of how the two met and everything else was in fact true. They were really happy, wanting to settle down and spend their lives together and they did wanted to start a family. When Squala died, Eliza thought that all their dreams died with him, until she found out she was pregnant 3 months after his death. Eliza already lost the love of her life and she just couldn’t stand the thought losing her only child as well.

She couldn’t answer Silloh when she asked if she knew who killed her father. She really didn’t know and she was sure she would never tell her daughter even if she did. Silloh mumbled something her mother couldn’t hear- 

-And suddenly everything turned black. 

Silloh knocked her mother out and laid her down on the couch, before walking to her bedroom. 

Everything just came crashing down on her in a matter of minutes. She just couldn’t believe her mother lied about father’s death and the way she had to find out from an old news paper she saw in the city’s library was just cruel. She could understand her mother’s point of view not to tell her at a young age, but she still felt that she was supposed to know it 2 years ago at the very least. 

What Eliza didn’t knew is that Silloh already had a knowledge of Hunters and Nen because of Dana, her mother’s librarian friend, who also happened to be a “retired” Hunter. The woman told Silloh about her stories of her hunter carrier when she was a child and couldn’t help but wanting to be a hunter as well when she grew up. 

Dana made sure Silloh would never tell her mother about the stories and about the woman’s previous occupation for obvious reasons. 

And Silloh never told her mother that she applied to the Hunter Exam months ago. 

The teen changed clothes and grabbed her backpack, filling it with spare clothes, pens, a journal and some other travel sized Items. She opened the locket necklace, revealing a picture of her younger self and her mother happily hugging each other, before roughly tossing it on the bed and replaced it with the silver dog chain necklace, which was the only possession she had of her father. 

Silloh walked out her bedroom and looked at herself in the full body mirror in the hallway. Caramel skin, the dot on her forehead, bluish violet curls falling down her back and green eyes - not as round as Eliza’s, but not as nearly as sharp lidded as Squala’s. They were dull and bloodshot.

She looked terrible and felt that way too.

As she left the house, she looked back for the last time with tears in her eyes before departing from the place she once called home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ōston,YS = Kingston, NY
> 
> Hopefully I'll finally get this story done.


	2. The Exam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Silloh takes the Hunter Exam

Silloh took the first train towards the destination of the Hunter Exam. 

The only thing she heard were raindrops hitting the windows of the speed train and the sound of people near her talking softly to one another. It had been 2 hours since she stepped inside of the vehicle and she had no clue what would happen or when they would finally reach the destination. It was only a matter of time she guessed, but she just couldn’t help herself to be slightly nervous.

The kid sighed and looked up at the man that sat next to her, listening to music with his arms crossed behind his head and legs resting on the table. He was tall, dark skinned, long black curly hair that fell down his back, sharp golden eyes and a lean muscular frame.

Ukean Alous, also known as  _ Xystos _ , a man in his early 20s and someone that took the Hunter Exam for the 3rd time. Silloh had met him hours ago at the station platform. 

Silloh wanted to leave the train when it reached the destination, but the older man stopped her. She looked around and saw the people who still sat in the train. Everyone was really tense. The pleasant atmosphere from before wasn’t there anymore.  She knew what was about to happen since Dana warned her that the Hunter Association “trimmed the fat”, eliminating those who weren’t qualified to take the real exam since they don’t have the time or the resources to test everyone.

Silloh and Xystos were so distracted that they didn’t noticed the the train driver exciting the vehicle. He pressed the button on the remote he had in his hand and the train drove on its own.  The passengers were thrown at different directions as the train drove through the tunnel at maximum speed. The lights were flickering till they eventually turned off completely. Silloh could only hear the grunts, screams and puking sounds of the people around her. She and Xystos crawled to the driver’s seat with a lot of effort because of the sharp turns the train made. 

Xystos smashed the glass and pulled on the emergency handle, only to pull on it too hard, causing it to break. Silloh saw the wall at the very end of the tunnel. She didn’t needed to put two and two together to know that they were going to crash straight into it in seconds.  The older man threw the kid over his shoulder and quickly ran to the back of the train. He yelled out a warming to the other passengers and threw himself under a random table looming over Silloh to protect her from the force that was about to come.

Everything flew around, the screams of the passengers were even more devastating than before and the poor child could swear she could hear bones breaking. Xystos quickly stood up and carried Silloh bridal style out of the train. He had a nasty feeling and wanted to leave fast.  And we was right. Minutes passed and suddenly the train exploded and was caught on fire. Unfortunately, the hunters that were still stuck there or weren’t fast enough to move away were burned to death. 

Silloh leaned her head on Xystos’s shoulder and closed her eyes, giving herself a recap of what all happened the moment she stepped a foot inside the train. The two and the other contestants walked through the tunnel in silence, keeping their guard up for whatever could happen to them. 

They encountered a green coloured humanoid figure named Beans after walking for a long time. He counted the amount of contestants and told that the total was 375 from the 987 signups. Silloh didn’t knew how many were in the train she was in, but was sure that at more of the half died and a small percentage were too tired to continue walking so they dropped out by themselves. 

Beans walked to the wall and pulled a red handle down. A hole appeared underneath the contestants feet and they fell right in it. Luckily was Xystos nimble enough to land on his feet. The man dropped Silloh back on the ground, both of them ignoring the pile of contestants laying on top of one another, groaning and grumbling from the fall. 

The two looked around and saw another group standing farther away. Probably the rest of the 375 contestants. Suddenly a presence appeared next to Silloh and Xystos. They saw boy in his mid-late teen years with blue eyes, blonde hair framing his face and a mole under his left eye. He also had a couple of piercings in his ears. 

He handed her something and the two tanned individuals looked down. Silloh’s eyes winded at the sight of her backpack. She quickly grabbed it and looked inside, to see that everything was intact. The girl thanked him and offered her hand to shake his. The boy introduced himself as Iwan Ógir and that this was also his first time taking the exam. 

The contestants didn’t need to wait that long for the examiner to arrive. They’ve made themselves known by laughing at the grumbling people laying on the ground. All of them looked up above them to see a man sitting on a pile of containers with wild red hair and golden coloured eyes that were shielded behind black rimmed glasses.

Jaymz Naamah, 1st examiner of the Hunter Exam and a full time weirdo..

The man told them that the first phase is a trip through a forest. The contestants had 3 days till 4PM to get to the finish line or they’re disqualified. Sounds easy right? That is, If they don’t count the boobytraps and the wild animals that they will encounter. Luckily for them, they were allowed to change into thicker clothes they got from the examiner. 

Xystos wrapped a head scarf around his and Silloh’s head to protect their hair from the cold. The port opened and the girl already walked towards the end of the cliff to watch the scenery in front of her. It was beautiful.The sky was clear blue, the sun was shining bright and everything was covered in snow, like a giant blanket that covered whole area, trees and mountains. 

The girl couldn’t help but taking pictures of the breathtaking sight in front of her with her Solaroid camera and even taking some with her traveling buddies since she may as well have a good time for herself since the possibility of dying was big. If she survived, she had great moments to share. 

Jaymz announced that it was time for the exam and told them to jump off the cliff. Silloh thought the man was crazy, but couldn’t voice her opinion since Xystos grabbed her arm and jumped off the cliff. The girl quickly grabbed Iwan’s hand so that they wouldn’t separate. 

* * *

The first day went well enough. 

The fall was terrifying yet boring at the same time since it took so long to reach the ground. Once the squad reached the trees, Xystos landed on one of the branches and jumped down to the snow covered ground from tree to tree. 

Iwan suggested a route to walk on since she saw the airship and a pole with a red flag when they were still in the air, which was most likely the meet up stop. The men talked occasionally about random stuff while Silloh was too busy snapping pictures of the beauty around her and showing it to her companions, smiling whenever she caught a cute animal on the picture.

The weird insects and possible magical beasts on the last photos she took creep them out, so the girl quickly shoved her camera back in her backpack before the 3 continued walking into the snow covered forest, keeping their guard up just in case they might be watched. They found a cabin on their way later that night and rested before they would continue on their path as soon as the sun rose the next morning. 

The start of the 2nd day went well at the beginning since Silloh and Xystos had fruit and some oatmeal bars with them, but unfortunately, that led to wild animals chasing them since the crew left a trail behind them.  Later in the afternoon, Silloh, Xystos and Iwan were held back by a group of contestants that wanted to wipe him out first, so that there was a better change of them making it to the next phase. They were surprisingly easy to take down, but the 3 ended up with ruffled hair, smudges of dirt on their clothes and some scratches on their faces.  The rest of the day was terrible since there was a snowstorm. The 3 had no choice, but to shelter in a cave. They huddled close to one another for warmth and taking turns on sleeping and keeping watch before continuing their way to the finish line, which was luckily a few hour walk away from them. 

Silloh woke up the next morning to Xystos shaking her shoulder. The alarm on her phone blared in the cave and her eyes were crusted with sleep. The older man said it was time to wake up, so that they could leave. The girl stretched, every joint in her body cracked in response. Yesterday’s exertions really tired her out and her blonde friend was no better as she saw him fixing his hair with a sleepy expression on his face. 

The crew grabbed their bags and left the cave they’ve slept in. Their trip to the finish line took longer since the wind was too strong to go against. Xystos got impatient, so he carried Silloh bridal style, while letting Iwan climb on his back and ran to the meet up stop with ridiculous speed. The snow melted immediately when it came in touch with them. 

Before they knew it, it was 4PM. Time was up and all the contestants that were seconds too late were disqualified, even those that were  _ inches _ away from the finish line were stopped by the invisible wall. It was quite saddening to see their broken looks and screams of anguish. 

* * *

120 from the 375 passed the 1st phase of the exam. 

There was a tense atmosphere inside the airship. They only heard the trees moving due to the cold wind. Something told them that the next phase would be worst than the previous one.  Jaymz introduced them to the 2nd phase examiner. A curvy woman with some muscle on her, almond skin, sharp eyes, silver hair in dreadlocks that fell down her waist.

Her name was Suoxen Taijin. A tough cookie that no one wants to mess with.

The woman told them that the 2nd phase would be a small interview. She would ask the contestants a couple of questions and they only needed to answer them. Their number would be shown on the board when it was their turn. No one believed that it was just an interview. That woman hid something from them, but they didn’t knew what nor how it would end up for them. 

Xystos and the 2 younger teens shared a room and decided to play dumb and not letting the other known about their own concerns. Later that night when everyone was sleeping, there were a few contestants that were a bit restless.

The news that 40 contestants dropped from the exam spread like wildfire the very next morning. 

Iwan told Xystos that he saw a few of them looking like a complete mess and asked them how the interview went out of curiosity and got the information he needed. The 2 men were worried since Silloh had her interview. Xystos got a free pass since he took over the kitchen because the food was terrible. 

But what could let 40 people drop out that fast though? There was no doubt that Suoxen played mind games to intimidate them all. They decided to drop it for now and went on their own ways. Iwan went to the small library inside the airship and met up with Silloh after her interview while Xystos walked back to their shared room to take a nap.  He saw a maid coming out of the room with their clothes that were dirty and reeked of sweat. It was well appreciated, but he couldn’t couldn’t ignore the uneasy feeling out of his mind. He hoped that a nap would do him good.

Hours flew by and before they knew it, it was night time and it all went downhill. 

The 2 of the 3 had nightmares.

It wasn’t anything new for Iwan. Just his old life back in his homeland where he needed to succeed his father’s expectations, watching from the limo all the poor people that were invisible from other people’s eyes. A baby that was out of his reach whenever he tried to get close.

Silloh saw her father, Squala. 

That by itself should be something amazing, but instead it felt horrible. The man was nothing the girl’s mother told her. He was yelling at her to not being there, to go away and felt hurt by that. She was screaming, thrashing around and crying while Iwan and Xystos were trying to wake her up. As soon as her eyes snapped open, she ran out of the room. The lack of space was killing her.

Where was she going? she had no idea. All she wanted was to go out. And fast. She all but let herself fall on the ground far in the corner at the end of the hallway with her back leaning against the wall, her face hiding in her knees as tears continued to fall from her face.  Xystos slowly walked to her and wrapped his strong arms in a protective way around her while Iwan held her hand. Other contestants woke up and questioned themselves what was going on. 

Most of them turned around to see Suoxen standing not far from them with a drowsy Jaymz behind her. The woman led them all to the main lounge room. They were kind of slow cause of the drowsiness. Xystos carried Silloh in his arms with Iwan walking next to him.  From what she told, it wasn’t a complete lie. The 2nd stage was indeed just an interview, but she deliberately left out the fact that she would make the contestants doubt themselves to continue the exam one way or another.

Creating nightmares was one of them. 

All she needed to have is some basic information and she dig up their past, insecurities, everything that can help to make things difficult for the contestants. It would either make the participator drop out or-

A scream in the hallway was the answer they all got.

As soon as they all walked back to the hallway, seeing a female contestant hiding her mouth with her hands, they saw the shocking sight she was looking at. It was a random contestant who hang himself.

-It could be their death.

They opened the other doors and found various people who died as well days ago. At the disgusting smell of it, it wasn’t really hard to guess that it was almost immediately after they were gone with the interview, hunted by those voices.  The two men silently paid their respects for the fallen contestants before walking back to their room with a traumatised Silloh in the older one’s arms. She immediately ran to the bathroom to hurl her guts out.  She was exhausted from her outburst and didn’t wanted to deal with other people at the moment, but the 2 men didn’t budge despite her pleads and desire to want to be left alone for a while. 

Silloh eventually unlocked the bathroom door and opened it, standing in the doorway with tears glistening down her cheeks as she looked up at the two men, as if she was a 5-year old who had lost her way in a crowd.  Xystos and Iwan saw the tear-streaked face and were at lost what to do. Their blood turned cold about the story of Silloh’s parents being ex mafia attendants and that her dad got killed before he had the opportunity to leave that field of work for a peaceful like with his significant other. They never expected that since Silloh behaved as a normal girl, yet at the same time, no one 100% normal would take the Hunter Exam. 

Silloh gripped her hair tightly, sinking down on the floor as she heavily breathed in and out. It was so sad to see her like this. The kid that was neither incredibly confident or wimpy was now broken to pieces. She silently cried at the doorway, this time not minding the arms that are wrapped around her while a pair of hands ran through her hair.  The airship driver announced that they almost at the destination after hours. Xystos and Iwan got themselves and Silloh ready to leave. Her scarf got tied on her head and a piece of fruit was thrown into her hands. The two man walked off to give her some space on her own. 

The teen just looked at their backs and a small smile broke out on her face, thankful for them despite the short amount of time they spent together. She adjusted her headscarf and took a bite out of the fruit before walking to the exit.

* * *

The remaining contestants were standing near the airship, waiting for the third examiner to arrive. The atmosphere was still tense from hours ago so none of them bothered to talk to one another. 

Silloh saw a couple of ambulance stretchers entering and exiting the airship, without of doubt for the remaining corpses. She bit her lower lip as the thought of herself laying on one of those came in mind. The girl pushed the thoughts her thoughts away, pulling the scarf off her head and ran her fingers through her curly hair.  She shoved the scarf in her backpack and dropped herself unceremoniously on the ground, texting away on her phone to distract herself, not noticing the sympathetic and worried looks of Iwan and Xystos. 

The 3rd examiner Rilos Thijin arrived rather quickly. Silloh was disappointed to say at least. Not that the man could help it but he looked all too much like Suoxen. She really shouldn’t be that surprised that they were siblings.  Rilos told that the 3rd phase would be held on the known Trick Tower. Once the airship moved the candidates to the top of the tower, they had 72 hours to reach rock bottom.

The crew were thrown back to the top twice and it was getting on their nerves. 24 hours wasted and they were not going anywhere. They laid first on the floor, regretting their life choices for the thousandth time.  Out of nowhere, a portal appeared in front of them. Looking at each other to make a decision, they nodded and dove headfirst into the void. The 3 looked around and saw 4 doors in front of them. Each of them had an element crest on it.

Their opponents were _The Elementalists_. 4 fighters who specialises in the element we’ve been chosen to work with. The door they pick will decide who their opponent will be. If they won, they would be sent right to the finish line. If not, they would start right back at the top.

Each door opened on its own. They’ve been given 5 minutes to decide which door they’ll walk in. Xystos basically ran to the door with the fire crest on it, Iwan calmly walked to the door with the earth emblem without hesitation and Silloh took her time before eventually choosing the door with the water symbol.

The 4 doors closed at the same time behind them.

* * *

Xystos stood face to face with the opponent of the fire element. Surprising for him, it is someone that he knew before, yet at the same time, it wasn’t all that surprising that he would stand face to face with her because he just knew it would happen one day. 

Aino Bastet a.k.a “Madam Bast” One of the most known individuals in Ekiha, an admired fire performer, dance instructor and Xystos's old Nen teacher. The woman could remember the young man in front of her as the small boy who went out hunting with his father and other males of his age, older and younger and the part that no one wanted to talk about. 

Bast narrowed her eyes as her old student charged at her.  The fight took longer than anticipated. Bast could see how much her student had grown throughout the years. Despite failing countless of times to the point that one might had given up on the dream of becoming an Hunter, Xystos took care of his own problems, corrected his mistakes and tried again.  Despite that, he still lost to his teacher. She still decided to let him past the door behind her. The woman liked what she saw and just knew that Xystos would make it far if he continued on the path he walked now walked on. 

His father would be so proud of him. 

Bast woke him up and they parted ways. Iwan’s fight with the earth brawler Jelka ended with a tie and he was allowed to go through the door. He was dirty and sore all over his body. Silloh managed to trick the water brawler Muir, passing as well. She was drenched from head to toe and had to throw away most of her belongings inside her backpack aside from her waterproof, phone, camera and the old newspaper, which was  saved in a waterproof paper sleeve.

The squad met again and were surprised to hear that they weren’t done yet. In front of them stood the wind brawler Zeru. He said that  there normally would be 4 people in this phase but since they were one person short, he happened to be the boss leve l.  Zeru told them to work together and entertain him. He pointed at the clock, showing the group that they had less than 10 hours to reach the bottom of the tower. They would be teleported right back at the top if they left him unsatisfied with the battle. 

Silloh, Xystos and Iwan wasted no time for the battle to start. 

Suddenly a huge blast of air came out of nowhere, making Xystos, Silloh and Iwan fall back against the wall cause of the force. They stayed there stuck for a while before trying to move on the ground, only to see that the ground was nowhere to be found. There was only the bottomless pit underneath them. Zeru walked on the wall and stood upside down with his angel wings on his back, staring at his 3 victims, as if he just didn’t made the area a literal skydiving room.

Iwan got free and ran on the walls, launching his bladed chain at Zeru with Xystos attached to it. The older man hurled out an amount of lava and fired it at the opponent. The angel dodged immediately. He couldn’t even asked himself what that was since Silloh charged at him with her fist ready to punch him. He dodged every attack and kicked her in the gut. She fell back against the wall, the broken pieces fell underneath them but the wall repaired itself.

Xystos and Iwan saw her spit out blood, but she quickly wiped it off gave a sign that she fine. Zeru heard the older male vomiting again. Out of nowhere, his wings got hit by something scorching hot. Looking behind him, he saw the golden man throwing black-reddish balls up and down in his hand. 

**_Yōgan orbs “_ ** **_次級ドッジボール_ ** **_\- Next level dodgeball “_ **

Zeru kept dodging those balls while trying to find out what type of Nen user the tall guy was. A Transmitter? Emitter? He got kicked in the neck. He gasped for air and blew away the one who attacked him. He saw the purple haired teen with chains around her arm.  The air in the room began to blow even harder. Zeru used his wings to blow air that cut through bricks. The three contestants were launched back to the wall again. The wind cut through their skin, leaving a burning sensation behind. 

Ignoring the air cutting her skin, Silloh watched the clock to see that they less than 4 hours left.

How long will this take damnit?! She wants to leave this forsaken place! She felt tears of frustration form in her eyes. She was tired, felt miserable and just wanted to end this. With a sob escaping her lips, she slowly started to close her eyes for just few minutes, but her eyes popped back open at the bark of her name.  She heard her friends, begging her not to give up, that she still had some energy left to fight. Silloh wasn’t sure of that, but the 2 men that were with her were sure that she could handle more than that she thought of herself. 

Xystos saw this tiny 14 year old surviving a train crash, explosions, wild animals in a forest and  _ Suoxen _ of all people and he couldn’t believe that she was ready to give up because of this wannabe angel. Iwan’s thoughts couldn’t be nearer the truth as the other man. He thought the girl was sheltered, but despite all that, she still stood out. Her determination was bigger than the fear of failing or dying even though she had her moments when she she was scared. She wasn’t knocked down when Suoxen got a hold of her, so this shouldn’t either. 

Green eyes widened at their words. Those two had really this much faith in her? She wasn’t as nearly as experienced as them, but still…she had to keep going. An image of her mother popped up into her thoughts. Eliza was without of doubt worried sick about her. The girl couldn’t give up now. She had to reach her goal before she went back home

Silloh took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Green orbs full of determination were visible once again. Xystos and Iwan couldn’t help but smile. 

Zeru thought as he watched the scene in front of him and couldn’t help but thinking that they were quite the interesting fellows. He saw Xystos concentrating on his Nen once again and widened his eyes when he saw the oldest of the team hurling out a wad full of lava on his own arm this time. Iwan and Silloh watched as the older man’s arm turned black with sharp claws and glowing marks. 

**_Scoria Claw “_ ** **_地獄の手_ ** **_\- The hand of hell”_ **

Xystos launched with high speed at Zeru and aimed to punch him in the face. The angel shielded himself with his arms, but got burned in the process. Zeru couldn’t even concentrate on the pain as Silloh and Iwan came after him, delivering punches and kicks. The two dodged, leaving an opening for Xystos to launch lava at Zeru.

Iwan wrapped his chain on Xysto’s leg and Silloh wrapped her arm around the blonde’s waist, making them launch the older male at their opponent. Zeru hold his arms at his face again, thinking the man would aim for his face once again, but Xystos had other plans. With the remaining energy left, he punched the angel in the stomach, making him fall against the wall.

Zeru spat out blood and looked at the 3 contestants who despite looking exhausted beyond belief, still had the determination to go for hours if needed. He smiled and made the raging wind go away. The three fell down on the ground that just randomly appeared. The groans of pain were just a tiny bit of victory for the angel but he took what he could get at the moment.

The team passed and were teleported to the bottom of the tower as promised. Zeru wished them good luck on their next phase of the exam, before he chanted a sentence in an unknown language and the floor underneath the contestants turned white for a couple of seconds. In a split second, they were gone.

Xystos slowly walked back to their bedroom in the airship with Silloh in his arms and Iwan on his back, fast asleep. The servants were looking at the sight and couldn’t help but chuckle. The older man looked like a father who carried his kids in bed after a long day of dealing with their hyperactive behaviour.

* * *

The “comatose trio” slept for the past 2 days, only waking up to go eat and using the bathroom. The 3 finally got out of bed and washed themselves up once they reached the next phase of the exam. They were shocked to see less than 30 contestants at the exit of the airship. 

Rilos introduced the remaining contestants to a blonde haired woman before he left. Telbe Ophelia, the 4th examiner of the exam. She led the small group to a room filled with capsule beds. The woman told them that they would make a trip into their own subconscious. They could either get a random illusion that has something to do with your life one way or another, but it could be inaccurate. There was no time limit, so all they needed to do was being able to handle whatever they may see. 

Telbe wished them good luck before she left the room. smoke came inside each of the capsule beds the moment the examiner closed the door. The contestants panicked since they didn’t expected it and tried to break out, to avail and passed out. Silloh eyes slowly started to drop. Trying to lay in a better position, she fell in a peaceful slumber. Xystos and Iwan fell asleep right after. 

Just as they expected, they didn’t encounter happy visions. 

Xystos was back home once again and from the puddle on the ground, he could see the reflection from his 8 year old self. There was a volcano eruption that ruined most of the village he lived in. People dying around him and a silhouette of an older man that ran towards the volcano and never came, which he knew that was his father. 

Iwan’s visions were worse from the nightmare he got from the 2nd phase. His father demanding impossible things, the fights between his parents, baby cries and secret meetings. He couldn’t help but being glad that he ran away. 

Silloh saw her parents happily spending time together, something the girl always dreamed about, but reality smacked me in the face as I saw that I was no part of it. She saw that her parents had a son instead of her and she rather had the illusion being the real thing despite the heartache and the fact that she wouldn’t exist at all. 

Their capsules got open and they woke up, leaving the room without a word and just waited for the next phase to start. They didn’t speak, but they sat quite close to one another for silent support.

Throsk Vista, the 5th examiner of the Exam wasted no time to take the last few contestants on a boat and dropped them off on a random island for a manhunt. They had 7 days to obtain their target’s badge on Livius Island. They need to have 6 points to pass to the finals. Their own badge and your target’s badge is 3 points, while any other badge is worth 1 point. They were allowed to kill their target to get their tag. 

Silloh wanted to jump into the ocean to moment she saw her target was Iwan. The girl had no idea how to get the tag from the older teen. She didn’t wanted him to lose, nor kill him to get what she wanted from him. She trained in different places to keep in shape so that she could confront the blonde haired boy on the last day. 

It wasn’t easy since she always needed to stay on her guard just in case the one who hunt after her get her out of nowhere, not knowing that he already was taken out of the game cause of Xystos. The golden eyed man had a bone to pick with the guy named Malced because he screwed him over in the previous exam he took. Xystos wasn’t really the one that holds grudges, but it almost costed him his and his friend’s life. The man took Malced’s tag and left the body behind, letting the hemotropic butterflies enjoy their meal.

7 days came way too fast for everyone’s liking, especially for Silloh and Iwan. 

The green eyed girl took her time to walk out the forest and saw her target sitting on a large rock watching the scenery in front of him. The blonde haired boy looked behind him and saw the younger girl trying her best to keep the tears from falling but failed miserably. With a saddened sigh, he turned around and got off the rock, facing the one who hunted for his tag.

Silloh wiped her tears away while Iwan let his bladed chain dangle from his vambrace underneath his sleeve. The two teens stood there for a long time, wind moving their hair in different directions. Soon, they charged at one another.

After an intense exchange of blows for almost an hour, the two teenagers wanted to put and end to it. They looked like a mess with dirt on their clothes, wet messy hair and Iwan tossed his bladed chain, which was attached to a vambrace underneath his sleeve, on the ground since he didn’t needed to use it. 

In an attempt of a final move, Iwan brought Silloh down to the ground, with his arm around her neck. The teen quickly slammed her elbow into his stomach to release his grip on her and jumped back. The boy rushed to her and they continued to exchange blows and kicks for quite some time. The green eyed teen needed to keep in track of Iwan’s blows, which was difficult with wet hair in her face.

As she thought she saw an opening, Silloh didn’t waste any second of it. She dodged another blow of Iwan and once again sweep his legs from underneath him and quickly shoved her palm against his jaw, making him fall again, not knowing that she hit him too hard and possibly let him fall off the cliff. 

It went all too fast, without a first, let alone second thought, Silloh ran towards Iwan, grabbed his wrists and twirled him around to prevent him from falling.The boy saw what she was trying to do and tried to grab her, but she purposely withdrew her arms to prevent him to fall down with her.

Iwan yelled her name as he saw her disappear in the fog. 

* * *

Xystos thought this exam outdid itself to mess with his mind.

Not only had the 2 younger teens he took under his wing had to fight against each other, there’s also a chance that one of them was dead as well. Iwan, as aloof and stoic he appeared, actually shed tears when he told that Silloh took the fall for him. 

Xystos man basically carried the younger boy back inside and let him rest. It became all too much for him. His own golden eyes got watery as well, but he held it back. He needed to stay strong for Iwan at least. He hoped that his late father would take Silloh under his wing if they cross paths. 

Without them knowing, Silloh was laying unconscious on a bed in the medic room. Bandage was wrapped around the right side of her head, her right eye was covered as well. It was quite a fall the girl made when she fell off the cliff. The Hunter Association didn’t really had a rescue team since it was people’s own risk to take the exam and die, but the new chairman, bended a few rules, so Silloh was saved because of that. 

Iwan hadn’t slept well and Xystos wasn’t any better to be honest. The two didn’t exchanged words, other than a head rub from the older man and a piece of dark chocolate the blonde got to recharge himself. It tasted bitter but it was really effective. They heard the announcer saying that they arrived at the building where the final battle was held. They and the other 10 contestants went inside the building to the area.

After waiting for almost an hour, Chairman Yorkshire walked inside the building with 2 bodyguards walking each side of her. She explained the rules and what they could expect before going home with a Hunter License. 

It was dead silent. All they wanted was to get over with and leaving this damned exam. Due to the long hours some battles took, Cheadle decided to split the final phase in 2 days. Iwan and Xystos started to talk a bit more and slowly started to change back to their original selves, but it still wasn’t the same without Silloh.

Luckily for them, she woke up hours later with one hell of a headache. The girl slowly opened her uncovered eye and moved her head and saw Jaymz and Throsk sitting on chairs, each side of her bed. She touched her bandaged head and felt that part of her legs and arms were wrapped as well. 

Silloh automatically knew that she didn’t made it to the finals, but she was happy to be alive afterwards. She asked about Iwan and Xystos and was relieved that both were alright and made it to the finals. Throsk allowed her leave with Jaymz to watch the final exam. 

Another fight was done and there were still a couple of guys that needed to fight. Xystos and Iwan were one of those. Before the chairman could begin with the next fight, the door flew open. Everyone turned their head towards the door, seeing Jaymz pushing a teenager in a wheelchair. The jaws of Xystos and Iwan dropped at the sight. They knew the pair of green eyes and dark violet hair anywhere. 

Silloh was alive.

Xystos didn’t waste any time and ran towards the girl, gently picking her up and hold her close to his body. Happy tears escaped his eyes and sported a big grin on his face. Iwan slowly walked towards the pair with an expression of disbelief on his face. He wanted to say something, anything to apologise but the younger one just wrapped her arms around him. That simple gesture made the blond boy sink into her embrace and he slowly wrapped his arms around her as well. She’ll be the death of him one of these days. 

They quickly separated and continued with the exam. Silloh and Jaymz were allowed to stay and watch as long as they didn’t made too much noise. The remaining battles were long and brutal. Everyone put all their energy for the last minutes, but it was all worth it.  Xystos and Iwan earned their Hunter License. Silloh couldn’t help but smile brightly despite her loss. She was so proud of them, but she also she felt a little sad. The Hunter Exam was over, which meant that the trio would split up. Iwan already left to take care of his own business, leaving the other two in front of the building.

Xystos carried Silloh again, much to her confusion. The older man had no desire of leaving her alone and wanted to take her to a friend of his to patch her up. The girl was happy since she didn’t wanted to separate with the older man yet.  There was a lot to discover in the world and she wanted to experience it herself. Silloh would take the exam again once she improved herself. She couldn’t wait when the opportunity was there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I squeezed 10+ chapters into 1 just so that I can finish this story faster. 
> 
> My apologies for the Japanese translation of the words, I used the Papago app for it.


	3. The Quest

Silloh and Xystos had a long trip to the older man’s friend who lives in Vista Bella cloud forest in Rodauce. He showed Silloh a picture of himself and another girl with braided pigtails and glasses. Xystos told Silloh about his friend he met at the 300th Hunter exam when he was 18 years old. The girl was considered a prodigy and got her license despite being only 13 years old. She and Xystos kept in touch when they parted ways. Silloh noticed her older friend’s excitement to see his old friend again and she herself was curious how the glass wearing girl was in real life. 

They finally arrived at the Vista Bella cloud forest Airport. It was kind of hard to walk around without people watching their every move, or rather- Xystos’s move. Silloh constantly reassured people that she fine, that she would get patched up real soon and that Xystos was **NOT** the one who gave her those injuries. Xystos wasn’t sure whenever he wanted to beat their asses, laugh it off or just cry.

The sight in front of them was fascinating. It was kinda futuristic but still forest-like and flowery at the same time. It felt like a spa resort to be quite honest. The two waited for Xystos’s friend to show up, but she was nowhere to be found. Later, they felt a presence above them and saw a girl sitting on a tree branch with ash brown hair and amber eyes staring down at them with curiosity and amusement. Xystos carefully dropped Silloh on the floor before catching the girl above him and hugged her tightly. The older man put her down on the ground and she adjusted her sundress before looking up again and shaking Silloh’s non injured hand. 

She introduced herself as Ligeia Reav, a 16 year old 1 star Botanical Hunter. 

Ligeia brought Silloh to an elder to heal her wounds. It did hurt a lot, but it was over rather quickly. The older girl eventually brought the younger teen to the hair salon and a boutique for new clothes. Xystos thought Silloh was so adorable with her new outfit and hairstyle that he couldn’t stop taking pictures with the kid’s own Solaroid camera. Silloh was quite embarrassed, but she let it slide since she could send some pics to her mom or put in an album later. 

The brunette offered her friends a place to stay in her home. Xystos and Ligeia catched up about their lives in the kitchen while Silloh was out like a light in one of the spare bedrooms after being spoiled rotten the whole day by her new friend. After a while, Xystos brought up about wanting to find a Nen teacher for Silloh before she will take the Hunter Exam again despite the fact that it isn’t really allowed. He had no confidence to teach someone yet since he still felt he was lacking. Ligeia had no time to teach someone due to her own job, but she was more than willing to help her friend out to search for a teacher. 

Ligeia and Silloh woke up the next morning to Xystos yelling at them to wake up from all the way downstairs in the kitchen where he prepared breakfast. Said man looked back and couldn’t help but laugh at the girl’s bed hair and wrinkled PJ’s. It took the 3 till afternoon to get themselves ready to go out because Ligeia wasted too much time in the bathroom. The Botanical Hunter gave her friends another tour and suddenly saw a lot of people running to the same direction. The amber eyed girl thought that something felt off about it. She walked towards the commotion and eyes widened at what she saw. 

Xystos and Silloh ran towards her, wanting to know what happened as well and their blood turned cold when they saw the image in front of them. A body of a woman laid dead in the alleyway. Blood was splattered everywhere, neck was bend in a inhuman way, her face was swollen and purple and there was a hole in her chest. Silloh and Xystos had to look away before they hurled out their breakfast. With a bad taste in their mouth, they pulled Ligeia away from the scene and left. They didn’t bother to talk for the next few hours. 

Silloh went to her spare room the moment they returned to Ligeia’s home, Xystos already started cooking again to distract himself and Ligeia left right after she took her friends back home. Xystos hoped the amber eyed girl was alright. He heard the front door getting open and saw Ligeia back in the house, but she had someone with there this time. 

The older man had a bad feeling. 

Silloh walked down the stairs and paused for a moment. Something felt off. The one thing she could see was Xystos sitting in the kitchen with Ligeia and another person whose back was only shown to her. The only thing the teen could see was that the person had short black hair in a spiky hairstyle. She gulped when all their eyes were on her as she walked inside the room and took a seat next to the curly haired man. She finally took a look to the person who was sitting next to Ligeia. It was a young looking man with green eyes, wearing an altered doctor's outfit. He had a calm, almost amused expression on his face, which was actually confusing to Silloh.

Ligeia introduced the man as Timar Chenza, one of Vista Bella's known pathologists. He had a few screws loose, but he's good at his job, reasons why the brunette girl brought him to help them out what happened in the morning. 

Timar explained that it not the first time a murder happened in Vista Bella. It’s happening for years, killing people, taking organs or limbs without leaving a trace and no one knows who responsible is for this. Ligeia just wanted it to end and fast. This had been going on ever since she got her Hunter License. 3 years had passed and it still wasn’t solved. 

Silloh decided to take a walk to clear her head after the pathologists left. She knew it wasn’t smart to go out alone with a serial killer on the loose, but she was sure that nothing would happen to her at broad daylight with a lot of people outside. She just didn't felt like staying inside stuffed inside the room she's sleeping in with Ligeia, who decided to a nap, which she really needed at the moment. And Timar said he would contact them later that day anyway so....

The teen walked past the alley she saw the corpse and a cold chill run down her spine. She moved her head to the right and saw something sparkly on the ground. It was an enamel pin and a small piece of shredded cloth attached to it. She also saw prints on the floor that look like footprints, but she wasn't sure. 

Even though it felt...so easy, especially with the fact that the killer had not been caught for years, the green eyed girl still decided to take the pieces of "evidence" and snapping a few pics of the print with the Solaroid camera she took with her before continuing walking. She didn't wanted to stay another second at that creepy spot. 

The teen didn't noticed the hidden figure watching her from afar. 

* * *

Another victim appeared 2 weeks later. This time it was a man and his remains were even worse than the woman from before. People went out in small groups and no one stepped a foot outside at nighttime, fearing they would be the next victim.

Ligeia and Timar spend more time together at the lab while Xystos and Silloh were left alone to do what they wanted at their friend’s house. They were restless, on edge and wanted this mess to be done quick. They could tell that it took a toll on their amber eyed friend from the dark rings around her eyes, her unkempt hair and general lack of brightness she used to radiate. 

One day, the news spread that there was a survivor of another murder attempt. It was all on the news papers. It was a man with pale skin, a shawl tied around his head, partly covering his short black hair, golden eyes and red face paint. His name was Ug Wi-jo, a Hunter from West Gorteau. Ligeia wasted no time in trying to get in contact with him. Luckily for her, he was willing to hear her out. 

Silloh and Xystos were surprised at the way Ligeia came back home, appearing more energized than that she was weeks prior. The Botanical Hunter told her friends that she finally found someone that can probably solve the serial killings. The items Silloh found outside also came in handy. The green eyed girl immediately became starry eyed when she personally met the Hunter. There was just something about that man that made him look so powerful. He could be a candidate for a Nen teacher. She couldn’t wait to ask him once this mess was all behind them. 

The girl’s opinion quickly changed when Wi-jo suggested her to be the bait for the killer since they only attack non combat civilians. It was a good, but terrible idea. Xystos was 100% against the idea and Ligeia as well, but apparently it was the only idea. Besides, Wi-jo did say that he would take care of the rest whatever the hell that meant. They decided to wait it out for a few weeks, preparing everything before they set out their plan. 

* * *

It was nighttime again, which meant that most people were inside of their homes safe and sound. The murderer silently walked through the shopping district, searching for another possible victim, knowing that a few were too stubborn to listen. 

The murderer had been doing this for 3 years and it yet had to feel boring. All the victims the person had were obviously easy kills. The enjoyment of seeing the light leaving their eyes send shivers down their spine. Eyes narrowed in anger at the only person that escaped from their clutches. It just had to be a Hunter of all people. They couldn’t wait to get their hands on him and finish the job. Their thoughts were interrupted when they heard footsteps. Turning their head around, they saw someone with a hooded poncho walking from a far distance. Despite the bad lighting outside, the murder recognised the curly violet hair and green eyes. It was the girl that found the pin they accidentally left behind. 

Licking their lips, they made their way towards the girl when she started to walk again, assumingly back home to those Hunter friends of her. The murderer decided that she would be his next victim. What should they do with her? What were they in the mood for this night? Torturing? Asphyxiation? A lot of things to choose from. But a thought suddenly occurred them. This was actually the 2nd time the girl was alone ever since she stayed in Vista Bella. Her Hunter friends never let her go outside on her own for obvious reasons. It was kind of strange to see her outside at midnight nonetheless. 

Before the murderer could even think of this being a trap, they got crowded by a bunch of conjured wolves. Wide eyes and jaw dropped underneath their hood that covered their appearance. Above them on the roof stood the amber eyed Botanical Hunter with a wizard-like staff in her hand, a tall dark man with his literal _claws_ out and the West Gorteau Hunter. 

It was all over with a snap of Wi-jo’s finger. The murderer got attacked from all sides, ripped apart and tossed around like a ragdoll. There was nothing left of them. They never thought their end would come like this. 3 years of experience and they got taken out like this due to a amateur mistake. 

They got to curse at themself at their mistake for all eternity in the pits of hell. 

* * *

The identity of the serial killer was kept secret, but everything in Vista Bella turned back to normal once it came out that the person behind it all was dead. It was finally over after living in fear for 3 years. Ligeia was at her brightest, even more than when Xystos and Silloh saw her for the 1st time. 

Wi-jon packed his stuff and made his way to leave since his job was already done, but Silloh had other plans. The curly haired girl sprinted after the older man and called his name to try and made him stop. He turned around and looked down at the green eyed teen that called him, wanting to know what she wanted. 

It was pretty clear. Silloh wanted Wi-jon as her Nen Teacher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a shorter chapter than the previous 2 I think. I still suffer from writer's block and I still have homework to do even in quarantine so yeah 🤷🏾♀️
> 
> I hoped you guys enjoyed it and till next time!
> 
> _ -_ _ -_ _ -_ _ -_ _ -_ _ -_ _ -_ _ -_ _ -_ _ -_ _ -_ _ -_ _ -_ 
> 
> Vista Bella cloud forest = Bellavista cloud forest  
> Rodauce = ecuador


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